Preparation for Finals

I have finished my clinical rotation for this semester.  Even though I appreciated the opportunities to “being with” the clients and practice my therapeutic communication with them, finishing my clinical makes me more grateful the amount of the time I can sleep, which means no more getting up 4 am in the morning at least for a while. 

However, as finals are approaching, I understand lots of people start to stress out, and ME TOO!! I am not here to tell you how stressed I can get but to share my strategies of getting ready for finals.   

1. Listing specific study plan

        Throughout my academic path, I realized that I am easily distracted when I don’t make plan before diving into my study pool. When I say distraction, I am referring to other assignment popped into my head when I am working on one specific assignment, and I get stressed out so I ended up not finishing up my assignment.

To fix that problem, I usually list deadlines for all my assignments and exam, and I prioritize my to-do list. On top of that, I write down a study plan, or schedule. For example, instead of putting down “study biology” in my list, I put “study biology from p145 to p155” for 20 minutes. The reason behind it is to be more efficient with the time that I invest. Believe it or not, I could spend one hour reading 5 pages, and I still couldn’t comprehend the content at the end, which definitely increases my stress level. so DON’T do what I did. 

      2. Maintain sufficient sleep and rest

In the last week of my nursing competency I, we have talked about “Sleep and Rest”. Therefore, I want to emphasize the importance and benefit of sleep and rest.  In my perspective,  maintaining sufficient sleep is a key to efficiency. Sleep deprivation highly impacts on cognitive function like memory, concentration and mood. In my experience, I used to stay up out of guilt even though I knew I wouldn’t be efficient. I ended up being drained physically and mentally, and I wouldn’t be able to focus for the whole day. My main point is to sleep well, and study better. Your bed is your best friend. 

3. Relaxation

Lastly, it is important to take time to relax. What I had done on the Sunday before dead week started was to attend a yoga class and to watch a movie with my roommate. We tried out samdhana-karana yoga class, and they offer a few sessions of free yoga class. After a day of relaxing, I do feel that I am ready to embrace finals.  

Speaking of yoga, I have found a yoga exercise that requires no yoga mat, and you can do it anywhere you want!  Practice your laugh yoga

Camille

Adventure!

On Saturday April 22, PLU Business Plan Competition was held. I teamed up with Finn Kelln, Kyle Bendebel, and Felix Ye to challenge the venture competition in the middle of March. We had a fabulous idea, good plan, and fitting market trend. Finn and I worked on research and general business cases, and Kyle and Felix took in charge of computer technique and editing sample of prototype. We all put all our passion and effort to win the competition not for the prize but for actualization after real investment. On the day of competition, we presented very well, received good feedbacks, and got defeated totally. There were many other good ideas which were able to be initiated right away. There was a PLU alumna who came to Tacoma from New York to participate in this competition, and she was a professional.

We did not get any place, but it was an instructive experience. There was a lot of things that we could learn throughout our work and feedbacks from investors. We were given a time to have conversation with investors, one of the investors gave us a lecture for 30 minutes. Moreover, we could receive their personal contact. What we learned from the whole process of the business competition was much greater than the prize. The failure of our first attempt became stronger motivation, and we are going to prepare more for next year business competition.

If you have any venture idea, try! Challenge yourself for the competition! I promise you that it will benefit you much more than you may expect. 

Cho Cheong Wun

Senior Capstone Presentation

My senior capstone presentation for my Political Science major is tomorrow night, and I am finally becoming more excited to present. Since I printed and submitted my Capstone paper last Thursday, I have had a few days to craft a presentation and practice my speech. This presentation is suppose to be the highlight of my research as a political science undergraduate student, so I want to ensure that this presentation is taken as seriously as possible.

I will be presenting in Xavier Hall in room 201, which is a large lecture hall that some call the 'Harry Potter room' because of its elegant decorating. On the night of the presentations, students, faculty and fellow presenters will fill the room for two hours of presentations. 

My faculty advisor is Dr. Michael Artime, and he explained to our class that he wants this night be a celebrations of the 'great research we have done throughout our time at PLU'. 

The research I will be presenting on is titled 'Fear of the Other's News: What the Death of Martin McGuinness Means for Legacy Politics in Northern Ireland'. My project addresses the complexities of politically-aligned media and the affect those media outlets can have on divided communities. I am excited about this research because it links to my study away experience in Northern Ireland that I had last spring. I study at Queen's University Belfast through an approved program of PLU. 

This presentation is one of my last assignments before graduation in 18 days! Hopefully the night runs smoothly & I will be one step closer to graduation.

Brooke

What to do when You can't seem to be Able to do Anything

We have all been there.  It's 11 o'clock at night and you haven't started your homework.  You should be panicking and yet you sit and wonder how life would be if you just quit college and became a bohemian alpaca farmer. 

Well maybe that's just me, but don't lie and say you didn't panic binge 5 episodes on Netflix.  These days where motivation can't be found happen to all of us.  Though, with the end of the school year just a month away, some of us may notice that these days are coming more frequently.

I am not saying I have a magic potion or spell that will suddenly get you high on homework, but I do have some helpful tips and tricks for helping ease you out of the school year.

Getting Enough Sleep

It's hard enough to get out of bed in the morning as is.  Depriving yourself of a solid 8 hours with your pillow is a sure fire way of tanking out early in the heat of the end of semester craziness.  So make sure you prioritize your health this month and  avoid pulling any all-nighters. 

Not Letting Yourself Procrastinate

Seems impossible don't it?  You start off with the best intentions and suddenly you awaken from a 4 hour internet coma like "What year is it?"  Here are some tips that could help.

     -Designate a specific study area:  Do you study in bed, or where you normally sit and browse the internet?  If you answered yes to either of those questions, you may be unknowingly setting yourself up for failure.  That is, when you study in these places your brain is signaled to think about sleep, or the internet, respectively.  So, find a new place that you can use just for studying!

     -Set a 10 minute timer:  Anyone can be convinced to sit down and work for just 10 minutes.  This being said, setting a timer and telling yourself you will only work for those 10 minutes is a great way of focusing in.  You will be surprised at how much you get done when you fully dedicate yourself and in all likelihood you will have gotten so invested you won't want to stop.

Let Yourself Procrastinate

Well this is awkward.  Yes, yes.  I know I am now telling you to do the opposite of what I just said.  Please, let me explain.  In the hectic, fuzzy tumbleweed that is the end of the year, there will always be something more you can do.  Please, PLEASE, do not over load yourself.  It may seem like the end is nigh, but we still have a month left.  Charging into things all homework-go-lucky at this time is a sure fire way of zapping your energy before we even get to dead week.  So let yourself have moments of relaxation.  Recognize when your brain has had enough.  Take breaks. Draw pictures.  Go on walks.  Have coffee with friends.  Everything needs a little moderation.

Good Luck to All!

-Shanna